


Everybody's Fool

by ThatDamnKennedyKid



Category: Naruto
Genre: Sakura Bashing, Songfic, hatefic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-03
Updated: 2014-11-03
Packaged: 2018-02-23 22:34:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2558147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatDamnKennedyKid/pseuds/ThatDamnKennedyKid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A fight goes horribly wrong. Naruto's conscious self is forced into the back of his mind to heal from the catastrophic damage. From deep within the most buried recesses of the Uzumaki comes a man who Naruto very easily could have been. With his debut in the light of day, Sakura comes to realize that all the hatred that eats Naruto alive is centered not on Sasuke or the village, but solely on her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Everybody's Fool

**Author's Note:**

> The song featured in this fic is "Everybody's Fool" by Evanescence. Song lyrics are in italics."

"Naruto!"

The blonde was locked in his stance, shaking so violently that it hurt to watch. Sai knew he could get no closer, however. Whatever jutsu had Naruto also came with an area barrier and a shield. Sakura beside him only watched. 

Sai punched the barrier again, only hissing at the burning pain that rippled up his arm. He wanted to scream at it, but Naruto looked much worse. 

His body was limp, held up only by the shock-stricken legs. HIs eyes had rolled up into the back of his head and foam dribbled out of the side of his mouth. The soft blonde tips of his hair shriveled under the onslaught and burned black. 

The ninja who cast the jutsu only smiled cruelly. "Try to bring him back now, brats."

Sai growled, but the barrier let out and Naruto fell to the ground, no even breathing. The other ninja simply turned and walked away.

"We have to get him!"

Sai wheeled around on Sakura and snarled. "We help Naruto."

"We can't let him escape!"

"Fuck him! Our comrade is  _dying_ , if not already dead.  _Naruto might already be dead!_ "

* * *

Sai sat in the hallway, staring resolutely ahead. Sakura stood above him.

"Is . . . Is it okay if I sit here?"

"I have no control over your actions."

She sighed and sat down, playing with her fingers to ease her nervousness and lessen the absolute stillness of the hall. The others had come before she had and asked to see Naruto, but there was only so much space they were allowed to take up and it was very minimal. So, Sai had promised them immediately if any news came. 

"Are you mad at me, Sai?"

"No. I am mad with you."

Her eyebrows furrowed. "Huh?"

"I am mad with you as a person."

"Oh." She looked back down. "Do you want me to leave?"

"I want you to leave, but I would respect you more if you stayed. You did, after all, suggest we abandon our comrade."

"That's not what I-"

Sai finally looked to her, face hard but eyes flaming. "That is  _exactly_ what you suggested and what you intended to do.  _Don't lie to me_ , Sakura. The only person you convince is yourself."

* * *

Naruto was awake and moving back around the village in no time. However, something wasn't quite right about him. HIs vibrant and scenic eyes had died down to a dead bluish-grey and he had paled. He seemed all around less lively and spoke rarely. Even when he did speak, it was quiet, as if echoing from somewhere distant. 

* * *

"Sai?"

The painter looked up to their pink-haired teammate. "Yes, Sakura?"

"Do you know what's wrong with Naruto?"

"Seeing as you're the doctor, you should know. But, if I were to hazard a guess, the jutsu he was put under not only assaulted his body, but broke into his mind. All of the symptoms of psychological torture and damage are present."

"How do you know that?"

"Because I possess them."

Sakura silently slunk away.

* * *

Finally, Sakura got Naruto alone. 

"Hey, Naruto! Can I talk to you?"

He nodded blankly, as if not actually hearing her, but seeing her mouth move. 

"You know, I'm always here for you. You know you can tell me anything, right?"

Those blank pools hardened into ice. "You're here for me?"

She swallowed, but nodded. "Of course I am. I always have been."

_Perfect by nature. "I" comes on self-indulgence. Just what we all need. More lies about a world that . . ._

"Of course you were."

She smiled and the tension in her posture eased. The ice in his eyes didn't. "I'm glad you know that."

_. . .  Never was and never will be! Have you no shame? Don't you see me?! You know you've got everybody fooled._

"So, if I can trust you, if you'll be there for me, can I ask you something?"

Maybe this conversation would help her identify the source of his trauma. Then she could get him back to normal. "Anything."

"Why weren't you?"

_Look, here she comes now. Bow down and stare in wonder. Oh! How we LOVE you! No flaws when you're pretending. But now I know she . . ._

"What?"

He sneered. "You heard me, Princess."

"I . . . I don't understand."

"Since we made Genin together, you've told me how much I can come to you, how much I can trust you and how much you care about my well-being. Can I? Have you ever given me any reason to? When we met Kakashi-sensei, you told him that I was the thing you hate. You continually punched and abused me and used my affections for you to get what you wanted from me. I never once asked you for anything. I never told you to stop loving Sasuke, despite the fact that he is absolutely appalled by every molecule that makes up your being. I never told you because I cared about you. I let you continue to hurt and abuse me because I thought I loved you. Why would I tell you my problems? Why would I bare by soul to a person who bald-facedly  _told me_ that she hates me?"

_. . . Never was and never will be! You don't know how much you betrayed me! And somehow, you've got everybody fooled._

Surprised tears streamed down her face. 

"And then you ask me to bring Sasuke back. You made me promise to bring back that worthless, lying sack of shit. You asked me to put my life on the line for  _someone who ran from you_. To you, his life was worth more than mine. Kakashi never asked me. The Hokage never asked me. If I wanted to bring him back and risk my own life, that would have been my choice. But  _you_ , no . . . You were too worthless and  _weak_ to go after him yourself. You didn't make a promise to yourself to get him back, you made me do it so you could  _blame me_ when he wouldn't return. How is any of that my fault? Or more, my problem? Sasuke is my other half, but he's a bastard. I don't like him. And neither do you, if you take that  _fucking_  blindfold you've got yourself in. Ino doesn't worship his memory. None of the other girls who fawned over him care about him anymore. He's just another rogue  _fucking_ ninja. He's a  _traitor_ and an  _enemy_."

_Without the mask, where will you hide? Can't find yourself, lost in your lie!_

Her arms wrapped around herself and she tried to choke back her tears.  It wasn't fair of him to say these things. It wasn't fair. It wasn't . . . 

"What about when Kakashi-sensei left on his suicide mission? You asked me if I would be able to  _actually_ bring him back,  _unlike your precious Sasuke._ Wake up, you stupid bitch! Kakashi is worth more than all of the Sasukes you've invented in your head.  _I'm_ worth more than that. I've lived up to every promise I've ever made. What can you say about yourself, huh? That you were the loud and obnoxious little pink-haired _shit_  that had a stable family life with loving parents? That you can be summed up in a misguided love for a man who  _doesn't exist_? The Sasuke you want,  _he isn't real!_ He never has been. And the me that you look down your nose at?" Naruto barred his teeth. " _He's not real either._ He's an invented figurehead to hide all of the loneliness, tragedy, bitterness, darkness and  _hate_ inside. You don't know Sasuke at all, Sakura. You don't know Naruto, either. YOu don't know Sai or Kakashi or Yamato."

_I know the truth now! I know who you are! And I don't love you anymore!_

"Naruto, stop." She hiccuped, holding herself tighter. 

He sneered down at her pathetic, crumpled form. "You don't even know who Sakura is."

_It never was and never will be! You don't know how you betrayed me! And somehow, you've got everybody fooled._

"Please, stop!"

He picked her up and slammed her against the closest wall by her neck. A thick snarl issued from between his lips. "You don't get to tell me what to do! You've never had that right! All of those times that you bullied me and treated me like a subject! How can you control me when you can't even figure out who you're supposed to be?"

He threw her back down in disgust. 

Sakura coughed and cried harder. "Where is all this coming from? Why didn't you ever tell me before. I could have helped you."

He laughed bitterly. "Like you helped me when I fought Pain?"

"I did what I could."

"Like HInata did?" He snapped his teeth at her. "Like when she knew that she wouldn't survive the fight with Pain, but because she  _loved me_ , she sacrificed  _herself_. She didn't send someone else to try for her. Inside, Hinata is made of steel and has a will made of a kind of strength you will never know. She knows who she is on the inside. You only know your alter-ego, the person you  _wish_ you were. You're nothing more than a girl in the body of a woman. You're a shell of a person locked in the guise of a powerful and confident kunoichi. You can't lie to me, Sakura. You never could. I know you,  _all of you_. But you don't know anything about me."

_It never was and never will be! You're not real and you can't save me! And somehow, now, you're everybody's fool._

* * *

The next day, Naruto was back to normal. Outgoing, bright and unjudgemental, he returned to himself. 

Sai smiled.

Sakura cringed.

 

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
